Can I bank my exercise calories?

caroline_mason42
caroline_mason42 Posts: 83 Member
edited November 24 in Health and Weight Loss
I am starting back at MFP with around 65 - 70Lb to lose. I exercise 5 days a week and do long dog walks at the weekend so active calories burned at the weekend are around half of those burned during the week. I use an iwatch to track my exercise and MFP gives me around 850 fitness calories each day during the week and around 300 each for Saturday and Sunday. My questions is if I don't eat back these exercise calories during the week do I have some of them available at the weekend when I am exercising less and eating a little more and having a glass or two of wine?

Any help would be most welcome :smiley:

Replies

  • brendanwhite84
    brendanwhite84 Posts: 219 Member
    Generally speaking when I'm taking it easier with my weight management (right now I'm obsessing with getting definition on my abdominals, like a doofus) I play it week-by-week in terms of reaching a balance, which would align with what you're talking about.

    I have heard that a lot of these devices overestimate exercise calories - my Garmin watch does overestimate as well, unless I'm pairing it with my strap heart rate monitor which brings it down to earth. So especially since you're trying to lose weight I'd suggest only consuming some fraction of those exercise calories; I've seen a lot of people use 50%.
  • caroline_mason42
    caroline_mason42 Posts: 83 Member
    This is based on 75 minutes of cardio cross trainer each day and around 3.5 mile dog walk each day too. I average around 22 - 23000 steps a day, do you know what I should be putting for exercise as I don't want to go over my calories for the whole week, thank you :smile:
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    caroline_mason42 wrote: »
    This is based on 75 minutes of cardio cross trainer each day and around 3.5 mile dog walk each day too. I average around 22 - 23000 steps a day, do you know what I should be putting for exercise as I don't want to go over my calories for the whole week, thank you :smile:

    Without knowing your exact stats, I guessed that your weight is around 200 lbs(with 70 to lose) 1 hour of walking a dog would get you about 150 calories.

    So half is probably a good place to start.
  • caroline_mason42
    caroline_mason42 Posts: 83 Member
    Sorry I am 46 years old, 5 feet 9 inches tall and 235Lb - I am being realistic about my weight goal due to my age :blush:
  • caroline_mason42
    caroline_mason42 Posts: 83 Member
    Perfect Thank you all so much so if I take 400 calories per day as realistic and bank half per day I will have an extra 1000 calories at the weekend without doing any diet damage - hopefully :smile:
  • shannonprovenzano2812
    shannonprovenzano2812 Posts: 60 Member
    You can bank calories throughout the week. I do! I would hate life if I couldn't have a few drinks or a nice meal on a Friday night. Just be careful eating back ALL of the exercise calories. I agree with the above, can you do half of them? Those machines have a tendency to way over estimate.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    MegaMooseEsq wrote: »
    Leaving aside questions about your estimates (which I agree seem a bit high), you can definitely bank calories so long as you’re getting adequate nutrition every day. I average my deficit by week and don’t really worry about eating back calories day to day. That said, I generally do not go under 1200 calories on even my lowest days and I usually eat a bit more on days when I’ve had an especially tough workout.

    You should definitely try to stay above 1200 NET calories per day.
  • laur357
    laur357 Posts: 896 Member
    I've done this successfully for weekends and special events. There's a weekly net calorie feature on MFP if you want to check where you are. (Mobile, click the nutrition button at the bottom of your daily diary. Change the view to week instead of daily)

    Note that if you weigh yourself daily, you might see the scale jump a few pounds after you indulge - it could be water weight, extra food in your system, etc. It should go back down in a day or two and not affect your downward weight trend.
  • caroline_mason42
    caroline_mason42 Posts: 83 Member
    I have just found the data on the app which shows me Calories under weekly goal which includes my high exercise so if I halve this i should be ok to have a few treats at the weekend :smiley: - thank you all so much
  • caroline_mason42
    caroline_mason42 Posts: 83 Member
    sorry just one more question, I have always been led to believe that if you are under your daily goal you can plateau, is this the case if my weekly calorie intake is correct even if for 5 days out of 7 I am a little under and don't eat back any of my exercise calories until the weekend - really need this to work this time around :smile:
  • Rebecca0224
    Rebecca0224 Posts: 810 Member
    caroline_mason42 wrote: »
    I have just found the data on the app which shows me Calories under weekly goal which includes my high exercise so if I halve this i should be ok to have a few treats at the weekend :smiley: - thank you all so much

    What is your activity level set at?
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    stanmann571 wrote: »
    MegaMooseEsq wrote: »
    Leaving aside questions about your estimates (which I agree seem a bit high), you can definitely bank calories so long as you’re getting adequate nutrition every day. I average my deficit by week and don’t really worry about eating back calories day to day. That said, I generally do not go under 1200 calories on even my lowest days and I usually eat a bit more on days when I’ve had an especially tough workout.

    You should definitely try to stay above 1200 NET calories per day.

    Agreed for sure! I should have specified that.
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    edited January 2018
    caroline_mason42 wrote: »
    sorry just one more question, I have always been led to believe that if you are under your daily goal you can plateau, is this the case if my weekly calorie intake is correct even if for 5 days out of 7 I am a little under and don't eat back any of my exercise calories until the weekend - really need this to work this time around :smile:

    It sounds like you're concerned about "starvation mode", which is the idea that if you don't eat enough your body will hold onto your weight. This is a myth based on a tiny bit of truth and you *definitely absolutely* will not plateau solely by being a little under your daily goal 5/7 days a week.

    ETA: If you would like to know a LOT more on the subject, this is a good read: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1077746/starvation-mode-adaptive-thermogenesis-and-weight-loss/p1
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
    caroline_mason42 wrote: »
    Sorry I am 46 years old, 5 feet 9 inches tall and 235Lb - I am being realistic about my weight goal due to my age :blush:

    When I started out I was a year older than you, an inch shorter and about 20 lbs lighter. I was definitely getting a good 800 extra exercise calories a day with around 16k-18k steps. I lost weight as expected eating back all of my exercise calories. So they don't seem high to me at all.

    The only way to know for certain is to test it for a few weeks, maybe 4-6 to account for normal fluctuations, and see if you're lose like you think you should be. Make sure your food logging is tight as well. If it's off, you can always adjust as needed.
  • caroline_mason42
    caroline_mason42 Posts: 83 Member
    Thank you all very much for the advice, my exercise level is set to lightly active as I do two blocks of exercise a day then sit on my backside for most of the day at my desk :smile:
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    caroline_mason42 wrote: »
    Thank you all very much for the advice, my exercise level is set to lightly active as I do two blocks of exercise a day then sit on my backside for most of the day at my desk :smile:

    That's sedentary.

    Just so you know. If you're using an activity tracker and "negative adjustments" it should come out in the wash.
  • Rebecca0224
    Rebecca0224 Posts: 810 Member
    caroline_mason42 wrote: »
    This is based on 75 minutes of cardio cross trainer each day and around 3.5 mile dog walk each day too. I average around 22 - 23000 steps a day, do you know what I should be putting for exercise as I don't want to go over my calories for the whole week, thank you :smile:
    stanmann571 wrote: »
    caroline_mason42 wrote: »
    Thank you all very much for the advice, my exercise level is set to lightly active as I do two blocks of exercise a day then sit on my backside for most of the day at my desk :smile:

    That's sedentary.

    Just so you know. If you're using an activity tracker and "negative adjustments" it should come out in the wash.

    She said she is getting 22-23,000 steps a day so that wouldn't be sedentary. Or did I misunderstand something?

  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    Rebecca0224 wrote: »
    caroline_mason42 wrote: »
    This is based on 75 minutes of cardio cross trainer each day and around 3.5 mile dog walk each day too. I average around 22 - 23000 steps a day, do you know what I should be putting for exercise as I don't want to go over my calories for the whole week, thank you :smile:
    stanmann571 wrote: »
    caroline_mason42 wrote: »
    Thank you all very much for the advice, my exercise level is set to lightly active as I do two blocks of exercise a day then sit on my backside for most of the day at my desk :smile:

    That's sedentary.

    Just so you know. If you're using an activity tracker and "negative adjustments" it should come out in the wash.

    She said she is getting 22-23,000 steps a day so that wouldn't be sedentary. Or did I misunderstand something?

    She also said.
    caroline_mason42 wrote: »
    Thank you all very much for the advice, my exercise level is set to lightly active as I do two blocks of exercise a day then sit on my backside for most of the day at my desk :smile:

    75 minutes of cross trainer and 4 mile walk technically falls into deliberate activity.

    The dog walking could qualify as lifestyle, but doesn't necessarily.

    IF she's counting the dog walking as lifestyle then it probably should go to highly active.
  • jennybearlv
    jennybearlv Posts: 1,519 Member
    I am a little lighter and a lot shorter than you and my activity tracker gives me about 400 calories for a 3 mile walk. I also know I lose faster than my activity tracker and MFP estimates, so your burn sounds realistic to me.

    You can bank calories from exercise or even from days you end up eating lighter. I track more by weekly average calories than daily and have had no issues losing weight as long as I log.
  • Maxxitt
    Maxxitt Posts: 1,281 Member
    Just keep your data for 4-6 weeks and adjust as needed if your weight & calories in/out aren't matching up. This way you don't have to stress over what's "sedentary" and what's "lightly active." Your data will guide you.
  • caroline_mason42
    caroline_mason42 Posts: 83 Member
    Thank you all so much the reason I put lightly active as I watched a program that said you can undo all the good of a workout if you then do nothing else all day, I do a dog walk but then as I say sit for most of the time. this weekend will be my first eating back some calories since starting so I will work this way for about 4 weeks and see how I get on as most people say you need about 4 weeks of data to see how you are losing :smiley:
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